Houston man turns life around, opening barber school after FOX 26 help
HOUSTON - In a follow-up that's almost 26 years in the making, a Houston man is sharing how a request for help from FOX 26 is now helping him give back to his community.
Calvin Williams called FOX 26 Business Reporter Tom Zizka in late 1998, when he, and other students, were having trouble with a now-defunct barber school that was taking their money, but not sharing school records with state regulators. That investigation helped Williams prove he'd studied, and get his barber's license.
After 26 years of cutting hair, like a lot of us, he is a little older, wiser, and grayer, "I'm not just selling a dream. I'm living proof of how you can change."
Now, as retirement seems more attractive, Williams is close to opening the doors to the Icon School of Barbering on Scott Street, where he wants to teach the craft to a new generation barbers who might also be the good listener, counselor, and artist that he's been.
"I want to give other people an opportunity to change their lives. Because being a barber has changed my life, truly changed my life," says Williams. "It was one of the better decisions I'd ever made."
It's also a decision, he says, that got some traction years ago when he needed a little help getting his dream back on track.
"As I look back, and look back at what brought me here, I had to include you (FOX 26)."
Williams is currently waiting for a state inspection to clear the last hurdles to open the school. Once he has it, classes are ready to start, with a waiting-list to enroll.